Contents March –2009

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Welcome

The extent to which the UK news business has been in retrenchment over the past six months is illustrated by the map on page 5 of this issue. Looking at just the big cutbacks it adds up to more than 1,000 editorial jobs gone. Sometimes you have to amputate a limb to save the patient, and major surgery has been going on at nearly every publisher, whether privately or publicly owned, across country. In this issue we ask what the alternatives are to the cost-cutting culture (pages 5-9). Anyone can balance a spreadsheet by lopping more and more off the editorial budget, but as former Nexus publishing chief executive Neil Thackray says on page 19, what do you do once you have cut all your contributors, and have no spare journalists or sales people left to sack? Public money to provide seed funding for “mini media”, less regulation of regional-news ownership, and the suggestion that journalists should become “curators” of free online content are some of the alternatives suggested in this issue. For Sun editor Rebekah Wade (page 22), journalism has a future if owners can invest in editorial and keep their nerve. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger (page 12) is among those arguing that the Government can help safeguard the future of news by reforming a libel system which is among the most expensive in the world. It is siphoning off millions from editorial budgets into the pockets of media lawyers whose fees now routinely dwarf the payouts given to their clients. Also in this issue, Prof Peter Cole (page 50) has advice for the current crop of journalism students who find themselves facing one of the toughest job markets ever; Peter Kirwan argues that the NUJ is wrong to frame the debate about the future of news in terms of class warfare, and Grey Cardigan embraces the brave new media world by trying his hand at a spot of search engine optimisation. Dominic Ponsford, editor

NEWS ANALYSIS. THE BIG STORY More than 1,000 journalism jobs have been cut in the past year, but is there any alternative? Leading industry figures search for another way forward and examine the true cost of cuts both to journalism and to society 05

PHOTO: JAMES YOUNG

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BROADCASTING The kids are alright: how can the young be turned on to news? 16 MAGAZINES What now for B2B? Neil Thackray outlines the questions we should be asking while Bill Davis of British Publishers describes his winning formula 19 NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS Sun editor Rebekah Wade on Kelvin, caring tabloids and why she doesn’t regret the Sarah’s Law campaign 22 GLOBAL REPORT The impact of the murder of campaigning editor Lasantha Wickramatunga in Sri Lanka 15 MEDIA LAW Special two-page report from Press Gazette’s Media Law Conference 12 GADGETS From budget to the best for travel and designers –a panel of experts look at the best laptops 36

COMMENT. PETER KIRWAN Editor of Fullrun 27 DAISY McANDREW ITV economics editor 28 GREY CARDIGAN 29 DAVID BANKS Former Daily Mirror editor 30 DAVID SINGLETON PR pundit 30 CAMILLA WRIGHT Popbitch editor 31 LETTERS 33

TIPS & TRAINING. FREELANCE Is the client always right? How to improve your online profile profile. PLUS David Parsley on late payers 42 THE KNOWLEDGE Paul Sutherland on his Life on Mars scoop for The Sun, Mark Bochenski

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on film reviews, Peter Sands on restructuring plus much more 46 REGULARS. EXIT INTERVIEW Jeremy Plews on his retirement from the Mansfield Chad 10 EDITORIAL TRAINING Peter Cole from Sheffield University on preparing students for the harsh reality of the job market 50 BOOKS 25 years after the beginning of the Miners’ Strike a new book examines the role of the media 53 AXEGRINDER The column that settles scores and buries hatchets 62

FEATURES. WOMEN IN JOURNALISM How was it for you? Six women on six decades of journalism 24 THE BIG INTERVIEW Brian Deer on his ongoing work to reveal the truth about the MMR vaccine story 34 DESIGN Ewan Buck of Think Publishing looks at the leading fashion titles 38 PHOTOGRAPHY Photography legend Marc Riboud on some of his most memorable images 40

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FREELANCE DIRECTORY 44-45 NEWS CONTACTS 54-55 ESSENTIAL SERVICES 56-57 RECRUITMENT 58-61

PRESS GAZETTE — JOURNALISM TODAY/ MARCH 2009